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This book examines Eastern philosophies of meditative silence in the context of Western rhetoric and discourse theory, arguing that silence is an authentic mode of knowing. Rather than an emptiness that is nihilistic, the void of meditative silence is, according to the author, a fullness in which meaning occurs. Kalamaras calls for a rethinking of the implications of such a concept of silence on contemporary theories of composition and the teaching of writing.
"A thoughtful treatment of a surprisingly important subject."—Peter Elbow, University of Massachusetts
"Kalamaras's thesis is an important one, especially at this time. He addresses a blind spot in current speculation by authenticating silence as a mode of knowing. Our thinking has been so impressed with the inevitability of language and the problem of linguistic recursion (how can language describe itself) that even the possibility of non-representational knowledge has been forgotten. Kalamaras's brilliant strategy is to address the matter in terms not of theory but of practice, specifically the practice of pedagogy. Reclaiming the Tacit Dimension begins a sensitive investigation into questions of actual pedagogical practice in relation to a rich and powerful theoretical context." —Don Byrd, State University of New York at Albany
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Reclaiming the Tacit Dimension
2. Into the Chaos: Writing Across the Curriculum and the Tao of Change
3. Classical Rhetoric, Objectivism, Mysticism, and the Great Divide
4. Paradox and the Sacred: The Still Point of the Turning World
5. An Intimate Immensity: Silence and the Paradox of Attention
6. The Physics of Meditation: Silence and the Garland of Letters
7. The Death of the Self: Poststructuralism and a Rhetoric of Silence
Notes
Glossary of Terms
Works Consulted
Index